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Jupiter & Palm Beach Offshore Saltwater Fishing Report
Capt. Rob Mazzei
March 22, 2001
Jupiter - Saltwater Fishing Report
Spin one up!
Record rainfall last weekend disturbed the pattern that finally being established offshore. Big kingfish and large dolphin were showing up at the docks before the stormy weather took place. The kings were found from the Breakers to Jupiter from 70-90 feet and bigger dolphin were caught out in deeper water out to 15 miles offshore. All that change once heavy rain and strong west winds blew the gulfstream away from the coast. Don’t be discouraged though, some excellent fish can still be had a stone’s throw from the beach.
Bullet bonito have busting the surface all over the beaches and trolling small feathers is an easy way to catch them. Nearly impossible to keep alive in an ordinary livewell, they are still excellent bait.
After catching a dozen or so we spotted spinner sharks doing their thing. Jumping and spinning! As I recommended in previous reports. We approached quietly, anchored up, put out a chum bag and cast out fresh chunks of bonito. The first strike took about 45 minutes, but once they were in the slick rods were bending all over the boat. Double headers were common. At one point every boat in the vicinity had doubles. I’m not kidding. Having jigged up some blue runner in the same area, we live lined them and they got hit immediately. If you tail hook them and cast them away from the boat, they’ll struggle against the pull of the line. The commotion and the distress signal created get immediate attention. We were 6 or 7 for 12 fish hooked. We worked them for about 2-3 hours.
A wire leader is mandatory, as is a heavy wind-on leader is necessary as well. When you hook a spinner shark they’ll jump and spin the leader around their body. We had several chafe through the leader any way.
Cobia have been around, but we haven’t seen any. We did see some giant rays jumping off Hobe Sound, but was never able to catch up to them before they went down. A high tower helps spot rays and fish.
In the same area we trolled up jack crevelles using large deep diving swimming plugs. Some fish were close to 40lbs and put up as good a fight as any fish out there.
While the "glamour species" have been hard the come by this week, great fishing can be found close to shore. Put your time in on the water and observe your surroundings and make the best of a day on the water. I learn something new every day out, and I add that knowledge to my game plan. Do the same and you’ll be successful.
See ya out there. Captain Rob Mazzei
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